


You are my Sunshine

by Voreadus



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Childhood, F/M, Friendship/Love, probably cannon noncompliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 10:12:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5739757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Voreadus/pseuds/Voreadus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Young Rey and Ben Solo being together at the same time at Luke’s academy. A story about a little promise, a sweet nickname, and a caring friendship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You are my Sunshine

Rey trotted up the steep trail snaking its way to Ben’s favorite spot. Well, _their_ favorite spot. She bloomed with pride at the thought that he shared it with her. Ben might have been a bit older than her, but they had become steadfast allies when it came to navigating the uncertainties of life as a Padawan in his uncle Luke Skywalker’s school of, “Let's see where this goes”. 

At the top of the hill she saw Ben in the traditional meditative pose. Stiff and full of concentration. She wanted to believe that this, _yes, this_ would be the time she finally snuck up on him. 

He let out a soft sigh. 

“Hey there, Sunshine.” he snarked as she let out a little squeak of surprise.

It irked her that she could hear his smile in the way he used the affectionate moniker, and he didn't even have to turn around! Keen on showing him what was what, she flung herself forward pouncing on his back and throwing her arms forward over his shoulders. They were cheek to cheek as she let out a furious roar, and tumbled her weight sideways sending them both toppling over into the dirt. 

“Hey, come on...STOP!” 

His ears flushed red. It took her a moment to realize he wasn’t being playful. He grabbed her wrists and harshly untangled her from his shoulders pushing her back with just a bit too much force. She stumbled over herself back into the grass behind them. 

He looked back over his shoulder as he sat up to dust himself off. Her face had folded into a cute pout, but the red rim of her eyes threatened heavy tears. Usually that kind of thing would have triggered his protective side, but today.. _well_ , he thought to himself… _it's been a rough day and I’m not in the mood._

“Oh, just grow up Rey!” 

He had shouted it, turning himself back away from her drawing himself back up into his meditative pose. He huffed and rolled his eyes as he heard her take a few footsteps toward him. He hadn’t seen the utterly hurt look that had flashed over her face as she felt the waves of irritation roll off of him. After a while of ignoring her he had turned, expecting to see her huffily fiddling with the rocks somewhere nearby, but she was gone. For a moment, he panicked. 

Flinging herself down the hill, she had snagged her ankle in a bramble patch, and ended up rolling down to the bottom rather than descending on her feet. She layed on her back sprawled painfully at the foot of the slope. Looking up at the sky, she bit her lip and fiercely concentrated on keeping the pressure behind her eyes in check. She wouldn’t let anyone see her cry. 

“Oi, what are you doing lying there Sunny-Side-Up, where’s the other egghead?” 

She cringed at how the other kids enjoyed twisting Ben’s nickname for her. Of course they just had to pass by now. Her little fists balled up as the other Padawan with him chimed in.

“Man, you and your boyfriend have a fight? You look worse than usual.”

She could hear them both snicker at her, and at him really. She hated that they used him to insult her. Like being his friend was something worth mocking. 

“You better get back to the dorms and patch yourself up. If the master sees you like that he’ll probably finally ship that sniveling darkside fanboy back to his mommy for beating up a kid.” 

Her frown deepened, and she imagined calling out to the force to dangle him in the air, or trip him as they walked away. She didn’t. A tinge of shame washed over her for the thought of it. The pain in her legs, and her wrist pounded at her consciousness. It seemed to feed off of her thoughts. She surveyed the bloody scratches all over her calves that had started to stain the hem of her leggings, which themselves had been thoroughly dirtied and shredded. 

A deep sigh filled her chest. She held it as long as she could, but as she let it go she knew she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. They tickled over her freckled cheeks. She turned her face back to the calming deep sky as the first stars broke through the veil of evening. She fell into the pools of light letting the cool breeze wash over the trails of moisture on her face which centered her in the moment. 

Behind her from further up the hill she could hear the crunch of rocks beneath heavy footfalls. Then a rushing slide down the last embankment to her. This time she rolled her eyes as she heard his gulping breaths leaning in toward her.

“Rey,” he breathed out, “what happened?”

She thought about crossing her arms and looking away from him. She wanted him to know she was still upset. 

“Please,” it came out a bit clipped, “please say something.”

His voice seemed a bit frightened, desperate. Drawn away from the heavens, she tilted her head back to look at his face. He loomed over her. A gloomy guilty expression laid on his brows and made his eyes look deeper than normal. 

“I’m ok, Ben,” she sat up and winced, “ I just took the shortcut down the hill.”

His frowned deepened, and he crouched beside her. His close proximity made him even more aware of how beat up she looked. He instinctively raised his hands over her wounds imagining her goofy little legs in mint condition, and they began to mend.

“Hey, Rey. I’m a jerk.”

He seemed to be avoiding looking at her face as he said it. He worked his way back to standing over her. 

“I’m sorry, Sunshine. Can you forgive me?” 

She let a single laugh roll over her throat, forcing all the air out of her nose. His cheeks were all red again, but this time from embarrassment. He had one hand tangled into the hair near his ears, and the other extended to her.

She reached up and he started to haul her off the ground. It would have been effortless, but for the swiftly swelling injury in her wrist. She yelped, and he nearly let go. As soon as she was firm on her feet she snatched away her arm, cradling the injury. He filled the space between them quickly, kneeling in front of her and extending his hand to touch hers.

“Ow! Please, don’t touch it!”

He left his hand floating over her wrist, and searched up for her eyes in her downturned face.

“I’ll be gentle. It will feel better after. Promise.”

A fresh tear welled up along the rim of her eye. She nodded resolutely, pressing her lips together. He moved delicately to touch her again, placing his fingers over her wrist like he was stroking a baby bird. Soon it too began to mend like her leg had. She wriggled her fingers in a test, and seemed to approve as he dropped his hand away, again standing side by side with her. 

“Friends?” 

He had tried to smile and then extended his hand out formally to her. His head tilted to better watch her expression. The look she gave, her very aura, shouted at him with a resounding- _really?!_ as she batted his hand out of her way, and leaned in to hug him around the waist. She could feel him melt a little. The tension he had brought with him down the hill was pushed out with her squeezing arms. 

“I really am sorry. You don’t deserve the anger of my bad day. You’re one of the few things that keeps them all from being bad now.”

“Don’t be a dork, Ben. Next time you have a bad day we can talk about it, ok. Instead of you just sulking away. I wanna be there for my friend.” 

“Yeah. I know. Thanks, really.”

She felt his heart speed up a bit at that. Like he was holding back some pain that he refused to let her see. Some nagging thing she couldn’t quite grasp. 

“You sure you’re ok Ben?”

Her ability to read him always startled him a bit. It made him happy. It made her even more precious to him. _She may be young, but her heart was just so… full._ He thought to himself. He gently pushed her away to arms length and stooped to be eye to eye.

“Hey, I have an idea,” he saw her eyes go alight with curiosity, “how about we make a promise to each other, ok?”

“Of course!” she bleated out immediately, thoughtful but excited, “which promise?”

Her tone was greedy, and immediate- but in the sweetest possible way. He pretended to be thinking on the question.

“How about- We promise to always be there for eachother, no matter what that means.”

She seemed pleased with the idea. Still, ever tenacious, she wished to clarify the boundaries of its hold.

“Well, what happens if I break the promise?”

She really was his Sunshine. He smiled in spite of himself at her sweet worry. As if she could break such a promise. He tapped his fingers on his chin, and then thrust his index finger out in feigned epiphany.

“We promise to always be there for eachother, no matter what that means, and if either of us break that promise it means they’ll be sad forever unless they make it right.” 

His smile spread earnestly at how her eyebrows shot up at his amendment. 

“Perfect!” she nodded, “I guess this means neither of us will ever need to be sad then, huh? Cause when we're sad we will always be there for eachother. So we can't break the promise.” 

She giggled with a light he could feel.

“Pinky swear?” she tentatively added.

He quickly grabbed her waist and hoisted her onto his shoulders. He looked up at her as she rested her small head on his. She extended her tiny hand, pinky out, into his vision. He hooked his around hers.

“You got it Sunshine!”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, you read it- thanks~! It's the first fic I've ever posted publically so, yeah. I’m not sure if it makes sense to cannon ages/timelines, or could, but meh. I had fun writing it.  
> It may later become part of a longer thing I'm working on, but for now it's a little standalone short story.


End file.
